November 11, 2011

2011 Innovations Conference Agenda (PDF)

2011 Innovations Conference Program Sessions

Keynote Address: "STEM Workforce Opportunities Now and in the Future"

Presenter: Dr. Reagan Flowers, Founder and CEO of CSTEM

Dr. Reagan Flowers is a STEM education pioneer impacting tens of thousands of teachers and students in the US and Latin America. Founded in 2002, CSTEM's inclusive education methodology has been implemented in over 260 PK-12 schools and has helped close the achievement gap among ethnic-minority and underrepresented students in the STEM instructional areas. Her pragmatic understanding of effective STEM education reform in classrooms across the nation has been instrumental in the successful implementation of the CSTEM Challenge model in each participating school. To date, over 50,000 students have been impacted by Dr. Flowers's STEM education outreach efforts. She has also authored several articles and two books, The CSTEM Challenge: A Feeder Pattern Approach to Reaching All Students through Hands-on Project-based Learning and CSTEM Pedagogy: Your Guide to Project-Based Learning, which has helped bring her innovative methods to life.

Dr. Flowers chairs the board of the Texas High School for Careers and Post-Secondary Success and the STEM Education sub-committee for the Texas Business Education Coalition, serves as the vice chair of the American Leadership Forum Gulf Coast Chapter, is a 2011 World Innovation Summit on Education Award nominee, and has received numerous congressional recognitions for her leadership in STEM education.

Engaging Students through Lecture Capture

Presenter: Jean Anderson and Rose Pryor - Blinn College, Brenham, TX

Abstract: ABSTRACT: This session explores how instructors at Blinn College create a community of engaged learners by integrating lecture capture technology as part of their online course content. Course participants will view sample recordings from current classes and learn how:

• Instructors use lecture capture technology to capture in-class presentations, or pre-record multimedia lectures/presentations
• Lecture capture is integrated with online learning management systems to allow for seamless delivery of course content.
• Students use lecture capture technology to independently record and upload multimedia presentations for online review by their instructors and/or peers.
• Instructors and students may incorporate feedback on recordings
• Lecture capture is used for professional meetings, online tutorials, and test proctoring.
• How to apply Chickering and Gamson's Principles of Good Practice in Undergraduate Education to lecture capture.

Instructional Technology 2.0

Presenter: Lorie Camacho, Bayer Material Science, Baytown, TX

Incorporating new learning techniques such as networking and competency modeling in instructional design to (1) better evaluate and meet learners' needs and (2) match the strategic corporate and educational trends and demands of the future.

On Screen Casting in an Online Course

Presenters: Marion S. Smith, Texas Southern University
Richard A. Smith, University of Houston-Clear Lake
Caroline Crawford, University of Houston-Clear Lake

The decision to offer STEM courses on line can is not an easy one to make. There are at least two compelling reasons why. First, many STEM courses require the use of software tools. For example, statistics courses use statistical tools to analyze data whereas programming courses use integrated development tools to produce software. It is well known that learning new software can be an obstacle to students in successfully completing a course that requires extensive use of the software. Secondly, STEM courses in areas such as statistics programming are universally regarded as difficult classes by students. To overcome difficulties in learning how to use software and alleviating perceptions of course difficulty instructor created screen casts are common elements found in online classes. Screen casts are instructor-narrated video clips of the instructor's computer screen; they provide software training and subject matter instruction to students. The presentation will cover a framework and techniques for developing a successful screen cast.

Embracing Learner Control through Discussion Board Moderation and Facilitation

Presenters: Caroline M. Crawford & Richard A. Smith & Marion S. Smith
University of Houston-Clear Lake
Join a discussion that embraces active learning and engagement within an online learning environment. Designing a course wherein the learner takes an active role within the discussion board arena not only supports the learner's understanding of the subject matter, but also focuses their attention upon course colleague communications. How do learners more fully engage with the course subject matter and course colleagues within an online learning environment? Through assigned moderation and facilitation events within an online discussion board environment. The structure of the event is offered, not only the support materials offered and the instructor modeling that occurred prior to the events occurring, but also the evaluative aspects and assessments. You will learn about two case studies, wherein the student learners embraced their own discussion board moderation and facilitation within the online course, as well as their thoughtful reflections related to this activity.

A Blackboard 9.1 Basic Primer

Presenters: Dr. Richard A. Smith, Ph.D. and Dr. Caroline M. Crawford, Ed.D - University of Houston - Clear Lake

Learn how to create a basic online course using the Blackboard V9.1 (BB9.1) course management system. This step-by-step approach will show you how to design a basic online course, how to systematically get that online course into BB 9.1, and how to avoid common problems that show up when creating your course. You will learn how to insert course content easily using Blackboard's learning modules; create and alert your students to upcoming tests, and how to track assignments that you give to your students. Also included will be how to use Blackboard's Forum feature to create discussions; and how to set up email to work reliably within your new BB9.1 course.

Clickers: The Power, Pedagogy, Purchase (or not!) and Pitfalls

Presenters: Shari Mauthner, Instructional Designer, College of Pharmacy and Shanti Mukerji, Instructional Designer, Bauer College of Business
University of Houston

Clickers (aka Student or Audience Response Systems) provide a reasonably-priced way to actively engage students during class. This interactive classroom tool can capture student attention and increase participation while providing just-in-time assessment of student understanding and a chance for immediate remediation of misunderstanding. The presenters will demonstrate and discuss clicker-based pedagogical activities, and also present low- or no-cost alternatives using mobile media.

Camtasia Relay - Lecture and Presentation Capture System

Presenter: Matthew Dennis, TechSmith Corporation
Camtasia Relay allows multiple people to create screencast videos with just a computer. Camtasia Relay supports a wide variety of video formats allowing any lecture or presentation to be viewed by your audience on multiple playback devices including portable media devices such as the Apple iPod and via iTunes U.

Fair Use, TEACH, and Copyright in Distance Education

Presenter: Jeannie Colson, Copyright Advisor/Distance Education Librarian, Lee College

How does an instructor of online courses ethically use the information resources available? What does fair use mean? When is information in the public domain? Are web resources free to use? Explore some of the key issues regarding using the intellectual property of others in your online teaching. Don't expect to come away with all the answers; instead, expect to be better equipped to address copyright issues in your professional life.

Digital Deceptions? Really, Seriously?

Presenter: Dr. Carolyn Lightfoot, Chief Information Officer, Lee College

Warning, Warning, Will Robertson! Is it Really that bad in 2011? In today's digital environment, fraudsters have the ability to mask their identities within the Internet and use the anonymity it provides to cover their tracks. With millions of young people eager to share their spur-of-the-moment opinions, risqué photos and outrageous experiences with others including strangers, the danger of compromising one's digital identity, privacy and social reputation and, consequently career prospects, is tremendous. The U.S. Senate, Citigroup, Sony and Google have all been hacked. If these multi-million dollar companies can't protect themselves, how can you as an individual? Attend this session for helpful tips on how you can protect yourself from theft, identity fraud and other online dangers.

Three by Five: A Low Tech Conversation Starter

Presenter: Margene Lenamon, Science Faculty, Lee College

Some index cards, markers, key terms, concepts, examples, etc. opens this low tech gateway to meaningful discourse between students in your classroom. Its' power is in its simplicity! You can prepare ahead or have the students construct it spur of the moment. You can have a five or fifty minute session—it's that flexible. Skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, appropriate communication and interpersonal relationships and learning to make a good argument are but a few of the benefits—as well as "real world" settings where students can learn to share insights and ideas, and develop an understanding and appreciation of collegiality. It can also foster a positive sense of belonging and community where improved self-esteem goes hand-in-hand with higher student success and completion rates.

CommandCore: Empowering Innovative Intelligence for Emergency Response

Presenter: Nick Davis, Senior Application Architect, and Paul Brager, Chief Security Officer, TechRadium

In the presentation, we will focus on innovation in technologies leveraged for public safety needs. It will bring to light the need for technology to not only prevent, but enhance response and recovery efforts. Realizing that emergency response requires the participation of various entities (i.e. public, private, state, regional, local, etc.), integrated platforms allow for communication and information sharing across multiple levels and types of personnel. Unified platforms or Common Operating Pictures (COP), provide a means for numerous organizations to share critical information in the most effective way possible. By utilizing cutting-edge technology, COPs eliminate time consuming manual processes and dependencies on legacy systems. A few have been designed to be fully customizable as well as scalable to accommodate operational needs and budget constraints of any organization; which is critical in today's economy. In addition, COPs offer numerous means of communication and information sharing, thus providing true interoperability. Virtually limitless in its abilities, this comprehensive coordination tool can be used to manage incidents associated with government, education, special events, utilities and non-profits. Thus, COPs are able to bridge the gap amongst multiple market segments for not only the end user but providers alike.

Crowdsourcing Your Content: Free Creative Commons-Licensed Media for Learning

Presenter: Patience Wieland, Multimedia Specialist, Sedrick Sexton: San Jacinto College - Educational Technology

Worried about fair use of copyrighted materials? The Creative Commons licensing scheme offers educators a free alternative to traditional copyright. Using Creative Commons, educators can discover new platforms to share content (such as graphics, photos, music and videos), find other educators and kindred spirits, and encourage experimentation by learners.